


Just Checking

by Alien_Duck



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chameleon Salt, Gen, Salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 14:39:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18075302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alien_Duck/pseuds/Alien_Duck
Summary: Ladybug swings by the school the day after Chameleon, worried that Adrien and Alya will be Lila's next targets to protect her lies. Because they both know about her lying... right?Little bit of a salt fic, calling out Adrien and Alya and by extension the class





	Just Checking

“You ready Tikki?”

Tikki sighed and crossed her arms as she looked up at Marinette sulkily.

“I’m still not sure this is the right thing to do Marinette.”

“I know you don’t, but it’s what feels right for me. Spots on!”

Ladybug threw her yo-yo up and latched on to a gutter above the alley she had transformed in, launching herself to the roof and starting to run towards school. She was early enough that none of her classmates would expect her yet, but hopefully her friends would all be there already. She landed on the roof just as Adrien’s car pulled up and he got out, and she saw Alya spot her and wave excitedly.

Perfect.

She jumped down and hurried towards Adrien as his car pulled away, ignoring Alya’s calls to her and hoping she would stay true to form and follow her anyway. She ran up to Adrien and grabbed his arms, making a show of looking him over and then sliding her hands down to hold his.

“Adrien! Thank goodness you’re ok! I was so worried that Miss Rossi might have gone after you already. You are ok, right? Oh, has your bodyguard left already, is it too late to call him back?”

“Wait, what? Why would Lila be going after Adrien?”

Alya had run down the steps and stopped beside them, phone already out and pointed at her. She let go of Adrien’s hands and stepped back, keeping the concerned look on her face as she turned towards Alya.

“Oh Alya, I’m glad to see you’re safe as well. You both might be in danger from Miss Rossi, since you both know she’s a liar and she seems to be going after people who might expose her.

“Dude, what? Why would Adrien think Lila’s a liar?” Nino asked as he stopped beside them. She gave him a shaky grin as her eyes scanned the people gathering behind them. “And why are you calling her Miss Rossi? You’re friends with Lila, aren’t you?”

Bingo.

She drew back, forcing her face to look confused rather than irritated.

“I’m not friends with her. The first time I met her was when she was in the park with Adrien, when I admittedly told her off for giving that interview claiming to be friends with me, right before she became Volpina the first time. Claiming to be friends with me when I’d never even met her before was putting herself and her family in danger from Hawkmoth. I don’t like to think what would happen if he ever found out I was actually close to anyone.”

Her shudder wasn’t entirely for effect. That thought of Hawkmoth going after her family, or Alya even if she was mad at her right now, was unthinkable. She glanced at Adrien to see his reaction and found him staring at her with a mix of emotions playing across his face. She focused back on Alya and Nino.

“But anyway. Marinette was on her balcony last night, after I was done with my patrol, talking about what happened yesterday. Miss Rossi cornered Marinette in the bathroom at lunchtime, saying she’d turn all Marinette’s friends against her if she didn’t stop trying to expose her lies as she’s only telling people what they want to hear. So since Adrien was there when I told her off the first time, and he told Marinette yesterday not to go after her because things were ok so long as they both knew she was lying, I thought she might go after him next.”

She faced Adrien again and took his hands, squeezing gently.

“You’ll be careful, won’t you? Don’t let her get you alone, and don’t let her twist things that you or others say? I don’t want her to upset you and you to get akumatized, or have her go after you again.”

“I, er, ah,” he spluttered.

“Wait, did you say Alya knows she’s lying too?” Alix asked, sounding agitated. Everyone gathered turned to face Alya, who’s mouth was open and her hand had dropped slightly so her phone was pointing at Ladybugs stomach instead of her face, but Ladybug answered Alix with a frown as she let go of Adrien’s hands again.

“Well, I assumed she did. She told Marinette to verify her sources yesterday, so I thought that meant she’d checked her own, as she wouldn’t possibly hold Marinette to higher journalistic standards than she holds herself. I can understand her not knowing that Miss Rossi and I aren’t friends, because she couldn’t really have stopped me after an akuma attack at any point these last few months to ask, or during any of the interviews I’ve given her…”

She trailed off, to let what she said sink in for everyone, and felt pleased then disgusted with herself for being pleased as the colour drained from Alya’s face.

“But her claims to know Prince Ali when Rose is friends with him are easily checked, and that Jagged Stone wrote a song about her, when Marinette keeps in contact with him for commissions… you did check, right Alya?”

Alya opened her mouth to say something, but Ladybug kept talking.

“And surely you’ve checked her claims from yesterday by now? That the only pet Jagged Stone has ever had is Fang but his mother had cats which he loves and isn’t allergic to has been in multiple magazines and interviews and is public knowledge. And the fact that civilians aren’t allowed on runways when planes are about to take off is common sense. And her mother being at work in the embassy here in Paris on Hero’s day when she claimed they were in Achu, I was able to find that out this morning after Marinette talked about it last night. So you did know, didn’t you Alya?”

Ladybug stared at her friend as her mouth worked but no sound came out. She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, I see,” she said quietly. “Maybe Marinette was right to worry that Miss Rossi had already started to turn her friends against her. I’ll stay in the area, in case an akuma goes after Marinette again. Please do be careful, Mister Agreste, Miss Cesaire. Excuse me.”

She grabbed her yo-yo and started to swing it as she ignored the choked gasps and spluttering behind her, latching it on to her own railing and pulling herself away.

“Marinette was nearly akumatized?”

“What? When?”

“Alya, did she say anything to you?”

“Adrien, did you really know she was lying?”

 “She was in Paris on Hero’s day? But what about the rest of her trip?”

“Has she actually done any of the things she’s said?”

“What else has she lied about?”

Ladybug paused on her balcony opposite the school and watched the group of students as they talked amongst themselves, looking more and more distraught as their volume rose. She noticed movement at the edge of her vision and saw Lila turn the corner and approach them, smiling and waving and with no idea what was about to come her way.

She dropped though her trapdoor and let her transformation fall, already reaching for a macaron as she caught Tikki in her other hand.

“Do you feel better now?” her kwami asked with an edge to her voice, and Marinette shrugged a shoulder.

“Yes? No? Maybe. I don’t even know any more Tikki.”

She hated having to upset her friends, but she also didn’t. After everything she had done for them, they’d turned on her seemingly without a second thought. And she was sick of people putting her feelings after everyone elses, especially the people who had hurt her in the first place. Didn’t she deserve at least the same respect her bullies did?

And now that she’d seen the difference that could be made by calling out someone, small and slow as those changes were in Chloe, she would never stand back and allow someone to go unchallenged for any reason.

Not again.

**Author's Note:**

> Yo!
> 
> So this is me being frustrated still over what happened in Chameleon. The double standards, the hypocrisy, the fact that nothing actually got resolved and Marinette's feelings were never validated.  
> I feel that her calling them out for their behaviour while still showing concern for them would be a thing she might do, so I've tried to go for that.
> 
> Concrit is welcome (emphasis on the CON) if I've messed up words or given people extra limbs or something or just if this could be better somehow, kudos are nice, and comments make my day shiny. And I'm on tumblr as Alienducky if you want to come say hi


End file.
